dock ellis

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis had, if anything, a colorful career with a lifetime win-loss record of 138-119 and a career earned-run average at a respectable 3.46.

His career was highlighted by events including famously beaning Reggie Jackson in retaliation for a home run in the 1971 All Star Game. In 1972, Dock was sprayed with mace by a security guard at Cinncinati's Riverfront Stadium. The guard claimed that Dock had not properly identified himself and made threatening gestures with his fist. Dock said he was merely displaying his World Series ring to the guard. In May 1974, Dock decided to hit every player in the Cincinnati Reds' lineup. Dock hit Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and Dan Driessen in order in the top of the first inning. The fourth batter, Tony Perez, avoided Dock's close pitches and drew a walk. The next batter was Reds' catcher Johnny Bench. After two pitches aimed at Bench's head, Dock was removed from the game by Pirates' manager Danny Murtaugh.

But it was on June 12, 1970 that Dock achieved a record that still stands today. He became the only pitcher in professional baseball history to pitch a no-hitter while under the influence of LSD. Dock and the Pirates flew in to his hometown of Los Angeles for a road trip. He asked his manager if he could go home since he was not scheduled to pitch for two days. Granted permission for a day off, Dock took some LSD at the airport and went to visit some friends. Upon his arrival at his friend's home, Dock began to experience a full-force acid trip and passed out. He woke up just long enough to take some more acid before he was awakened an hour later by his friend's girlfriend, when she asked "Don't you have to pitch today in San Diego?" Dock answered "No, I'm pitching tomorrow." She informed him that he had been "out of it" for an entire day and it was tomorrow. She showed Dock that day's newspaper as proof and Dock panicked. He rushed to the airport and arrived in San Diego two hours before game time. As Dock later related, he was as "high as a Georgia pine."

Dock took the mound and in the course of nine innings — where he claimed the ball was huge and then small; where he sometimes saw the catcher's glove and sometimes not; where he dodged balls he perceived as line drives, but actually came nowhere near him — he struck out six and walked eight. Aided by excellent fielding from second baseman Bill Mazeroski and center fielder Matty Alou, Dock pitched a no-hitter nonetheless. The Pirates beat San Diego 2-0.

Dock bounced around on four more teams in his later years, finally calling it a career back in Pittsburgh in 1979. After retirement, Dock, a long-time alcoholic, was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. He passed away in 2008, while on the list for a transplant.

postseason encore

I posted this illustration last year at this same time. I think it deserves to make another appearance under the same circumstances. Last night the Philadelphia Phillies secured another trip to the World Series. My dad would have loved it. Again.

Read about my dad's life-long love affair with the Philadelphia Phillies HERE on the josh pincus is crying blog.
WARNING! Contains adult language, but heartfelt sentiment.

frozen

It's baseball post-season time and a great time for a baseball story.
Read about the fate of Ted Williams, one of baseball's all-time greats, HERE on the josh pincus is crying blog.

donnie moore

Poor Donnie Moore. Just one strike away from glory.

Read about him HERE on my blog.

lost in the stands

Scenes from a baseball game...
Read about it HERE on my blog.

Me at 8 years old

I was 8 years old in the sixties. I loved the music. (I'd listen on my transistor radio) I also loved the Cubs and playing baseball. Sometimes my interests overlapped. :)
This is my first post. I'm so excited!

phillies postseason

With The 2008 Philadelphia Phillies headed to their first World Series in fifteen years, I can only think of my father. My father died the day The Phillies won the 1993 National League pennant. This would be the Phillies' first trip to the World Series since their loss to The Baltimore Orioles ten years earlier. He didn't live to see the team that went "from worst to first" — his team— go on to play their hearts out against The Toronto Blue Jays. He didn't get to see the longest game in World Series history, most total runs scored in a single World Series game, and most runs scored by a losing team in a World Series game. He didn't get to hear about the death threats made to Phillies closer Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams. He especially didn't get to see Joe Carter's walk-off home run. I believe that had my father lived, that would have killed him.
My father was the typical Phillies fan. He loved them when they were winning. After a Phillies win, he would smile and pump his fist, proclaiming "All the way, baby! All the way to the World Series." When they were losing, he would snap the TV off in the fifth inning and grumble "Bums! They're bums!"
My father was a simple guy who led a simple life. He was born in 1926 and was raised by his father, a bigot in the truest sense of the word, who my mother called "the dumbest man ever to walk this planet". And by his mother, a stubborn, die-hard, Nixon-loving Republican, who my mother said "was too mean to die". Unfortunately, my mother was right. My grandmother outlived my mother by four years and my father by two. His simple pleasure was watching his Phillies. My father grew up watching and loving the Phillies. He loved to tell the story about how he cut school to go to a Phillies game. He saw a no-hitter and, because he was supposed to be in school, couldn't tell anyone that he was there. Well, my father also liked to make s*** up. It's a great story, but Chick Fraser pitched a no-hitter for the Phillies in 1903 and they didn't have another until Jim Bunning's gem on Father's Day 1964.
My father took my brother to Phillies games at Connie Mack Stadium. My mom and I would stay home and listen to the game on the radio. When I was old enough, my father took all of us to beautiful new Veterans Stadium. My father worked for local supermarket chain Pantry Pride and would get free tickets from his suppliers. My family would usually sit in the Oscar Mayer field box — about ten feet from first base. I remember during one game against The San Francisco Giants, shortstop Chris Spier threw a ball to first about twelve feet over the head of Giants' 6-foot 4-inch firstbaseman Willie McCovey. McCovey looked at Spier in disbelief and my father said to me "He was throwing that ball to you!"
My father cheerfully related stories about Richie Ashburn and the "Whiz Kids" (the 1950 Phillies). He remembered with contempt the Phillies' infamous 1964 ten-game season-ending collapse. Of course, he beamed when Tug McGraw struck out Kansas City's Willie Wilson to win their one and only World Series in 1980.
Sure, the Phils made it to post-season a few more times in the early 80s, but they ultimately suffered some lean years. My father suffered right along with them, cursing them all they way.
I can still picture my father settling down in his chair to watch a Phillies game. He had a Tastykake Chocolate Junior and the biggest f****** glass of chocolate milk you ever saw. To one side there were a few packs of Viceroy cigarettes, which he would run through by the bottom of the third inning. He'd fall asleep by the fifth and wake up in the bottom of the ninth, in time to catch my mom attempting to change the channel. "I was watching that!" he would state indignantly.
Last night, as my wife, my son and I watched the Fightin' Phils stomp the Los Angeles Dodgers right into the ground of Dodgers Stadium, I couldn't help but think of my father. I think my son was channeling my father when he said "I can't believe those b******* are going to the World Series!"
Well, Dad, it's been fifteen years coming.

getting ready

The challenge this week on Monday Artday is "getting ready".

...for Opening Day!
I have mentioned before. I love baseball. I love watching baseball. I love going to baseball games. There are some things I don't like about baseball (namely Brett Myers), but overall, I love it.
I have been a Phillies season ticket holder since 1996. That means I suffered through some pretty lousy years. I saw some seasons end with the Phillies so close to a championship, only to blow it in the final week. Last season, of course, was different. The Phils won the National League East pennant on the last day of the season. I was there. I was there among a deafening crowd. A crowd that screamed for nine straight innings. A crowd made up, mostly, of people who had never been to a baseball game in their lives and were merely jumping on the "post-season bandwagon". Every one of them had loved the Phillies since...well....last week. As it played out, the Phillies post-season lasted three games and the temporary Phillies fans went back to follow the pathetic Philadelphia Eagles or American Idol.
I wouldn't consider myself a "Phillies Fan". It's just that I love baseball and I live in Philadelphia so I have no choice if I want to see a baseball game. Sure, there are several minor leagues in the area. But, if I want to see minor league-caliber baseball, I'll stick with the Phils.
I also worked as a soda vendor at Veterans Stadium when I was a kid. Veterans Stadium was home to the Phillies for 33 seasons. "The Vet" was, thankfully, imploded in March 2004. In April 2004, Citizens Bank Park opened. The new home of the Phillies is a beautiful, state-of-the-art facility that rivals many of the great parks in Major League Baseball. I've been to other parks in other cities. Citizens Bank Park is one of the best. Just hurry up and see it before the Phillies fans sh** it up.
The Philadelphia sports fan. An unusual creature, that fan. They are nationally known for their aggressive and angry behavior. Everyone knows that we are the fans that booed Santa Claus. I've seen a player make a spectacular, multi-run saving catch in the top of an inning and come up to bat in the same inning, pop-up and get chided by the same crowd, like he just shot their dog.
And it's THESE guys.
These guys show up every year. (If not them, then someone like them.) On Opening Day, they love the Phillies. They'll scream, "The Phillies are going ALL THE WAY, BABY! ALL THE WAY TO THE F***IN' WORL' SERIES! DA METS F***IN' SUCK! THE PHILS ARE DA BEST!"
Until the first time Pat Burrell stands at the plate with his bat on his shoulder, thinking about his fifty million dollar contract, while three balls sail unfettered through his strike zone.
Then, the screams become, "THEY SUCK! DA PHILLIES SUCK! Hey, where's the beer guy?"

b is for...

...Buck O'Neil.

John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil was a first baseman and manager in the Negro Baseball Leagues. In 1937, O'Neil signed with the Memphis Red Sox for their first year of play in the newly-formed Negro American League. His contract was sold to the Kansas City Monarchs the following year. He remained with the Monarchs for the rest of his playing career. O'Neil had a career batting average of .288, including four .300-plus seasons at the plate. In 1946, he led the league in hitting with a .353 average and followed that, in 1947, with a career-best .358 mark. He played in four East-West All-Star games and two Negro League World Series.
In 1948, one year after Jackie Robinson broke the major leagues' color line, O'Neil took over as player/manager of the Monarchs and guided them to two league titles in 1953 and 1955.
O'Neil left the Monarchs following the 1955 season, and in 1956 became a scout for the Chicago Cubs. He was named the first black coach in the major leagues by the Cubs in 1962 and is credited for signing Hall of Fame player Lou Brock to his first contract. After many years with the Cubs, O'Neil became a Kansas City Royals scout in 1988, and was named "Midwest Scout of the Year" in 1998. In 1990, O'Neil led the effort to establish the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, and served as its honorary board chairman.
Buck served on the Baseball Hall of Fame's Veteran Committee and because of his input, numerous Negro League players were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame that didn't receive enough votes previously.
When Buck's name appeared on the ballot for induction, he fell one vote short.

"If you ever get to meet him/Love is what you'll feel
Give it up/Give it up/For Buck O'Neil"
- "Buck O'Neil" by Bob Walkenhorst (Click the title to hear the song.)

brett myers

I love baseball. I love watching baseball. I love going to baseball games. I wouldn’t say that I am an expert on the game, as I haven’t really been following it for a long time. I don’t pay attention to intricate or obscure stats. I don’t know the game inside and out and I don’t really care to. I enjoy a hot Sunday in the summer, sitting in the stands, drinking a soda, getting my seat kicked by some kid who is shoving cotton candy and ice cream into his mouth while asking his dad “Which one is Chips Utley?”, and watching a bunch of overpaid cry-babies play a game that seven-year olds play. But, there are certain things I don’t like about baseball.

For some reason, baseball players have been put in the postion of role models. I suppose it's because everyone loves a hero. Maybe because baseball players command adoration while equipped with little or no class, manners or education. More recently, I suppose, it's because jerks like Brett Myers can earn five million dollars for throwing a baseball for couple of innings and maybe blow a few saves in the process.
Brett Myers is the poster child for what I don't like about baseball. Myers was arrested on June 23, 2006 and charged with assaulting his wife Kim Myers on a downtown Boston street. The Phillies received criticism from some media members and women's organizations for not benching Myers. Myers took a short leave of absence from the team. During a pre-trial hearing on October 5, 2006, Kim Myers indicated that she did not want her husband prosecuted, and despite the prosecutor's insistence of filing charges, the case was dismissed. The couple has been in marriage counseling since the arrest.
Not content with being a wifebeater, Myers set out to show the fans and the press that he is an asshole, too. Myers' hot temper landed him in a confrontation with Philadelphia Inquirer beat writer Sam Carchidi after he gave up two home runs, including the go-ahead homer, against the San Diego Padres on August 25, 2007. After Brett made light of the homers, Carchidi asked him if he thought the home run balls he gave up were pop ups. Myers responded by calling Carchidi "a f*****' retard", which was followed by Carchidi sarcastically asking him how to spell "retard". That set Myers into a profanity-laced verbal fight with Carchidi, while other members of the Phillies and Philadelphia media tried to separate the two. Pat Burrell was one of the people holding back Myers. (I'll save my Pat Burrell joke for another time.)
I see Myers as a loutish gorilla and I draw 'em as I see 'em.

oh, by the way, no squiggles for me this week.....

The Babe

Since the All-Star Game is next week, here's one I always liked. And since Barry "The Walking Drugstore" Bonds is on the verge of breaking the all-time home run record, this one is pretty timely. (This is actually from one of my older sketchbooks.)